Citizens and the MTA won an important battle last week when a federal court ruled in favor of Wayne County Taxpayers Association Chair Rose Bogaert and against Michigan's laws that stifle citizen recall efforts.

The victory is obviously way, way too late. Speaker Dillon probably survived being recalled last year because the Secretary of State enforced Michigan's unconstitutional laws. But this win will help citizens with future recall campaigns now that the playing field is more level.

The following excerpt was published Friday in MIRS News, a subscription-only Lansing newsletter read by most lobbyists, politicians, staff, and media:

Recall Statute Unconstitutional Court Declares
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan has struck down a Michigan law requiring recall petition circulators to be residents and registered voters of the recall district.

The ruling affirms an earlier injunction issued by the Court in the recall election process involving House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) and sets up a showdown should Secretary of State Terri Lynn LAND decide to enforce a similar statute regarding petition circulation for ballot proposals in 2010.

The decision validates the recall efforts spearheaded by Michigan Taxpayer Alliance director Leon DROLET against Dillon. Without the signatures collected by out-of-district circulators, Drolet and company didn't have the necessary number to put the recall question back in front of voters.

The question did go before voters, but Dillon was not recalled out of office.

In the case Bogaert v. Land, Judge Robert Holmes BELL wrote that, consistent with earlier U.S. Supreme Court precedent, as well as a recent ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, the state law requiring recall circulators to be residents of the recall district was an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.

"This Court's previous determination that (the law) posed a severe burden on recall-petition circulators was based on a consistent line of federal cases that have concluded that residency or registration restrictions on petition circulators pose a severe burden on core political speech and are subject to strict scrutiny."

The plaintiff, Rose BOGAERT, had sued Land, seeking a declaratory ruling that the statute was unconstitutional and an injunction that would force Land to count otherwise valid signatures gathered by circulators who were either not registered to vote in the district or who were not residents.